Shooting reported on Fallbrook area road

FALLBROOK  Authorities shut down a rural stretch of De Luz Road in Fallbrook on Thursday afternoon as they investigated a possible carjacking that left a man with life-threatening wounds after he was shot multiple times.

Sheriff’s Lt. J.T. Faulkner said the shooting was reported about 12:50 p.m. on De Luz Road near Harris Trail, near Camp Pendleton.

The initial investigation indicated that a witness saw a crashed vehicle, found a man on the side of the road and took him to a hospital.

The man had been shot three times. He was flown by helicopter from Fallbrook Hospital to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido with life-threatening injuries, Faulkner said.

Deputies shut down De Luz Road at Sandia Creek to investigate.

Authorities were also checking into reports that a pickup, possibly the victim’s, was found on fire in nearby Riverside County.

Shortly after 2 p.m., firefighters in Riverside County responded to a reported of an older model Chevrolet pickup truck on fire at Rancho California Road and Sycamore Mesa Road, just west of Temecula, Sgt. Lisa McConnell of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said.

The site is not far from where De Luz Road meets Rancho California Road.

The pickup was fully engulfed in flames when crews arrived, but they found no one in or near the vehicle, she said. Arson investigators were called to the scene, she said.